1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Blister Pack Container. More particularly the invention relates to a child resistant blister pack container, which is operable by one hand.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of containers are available for storing pharmaceutical products and providing patient aid in administering drugs. For example, containers can be helpful with complex therapeutic regimens by having indicia telling a patient which days and/or times to take various pills. Many types of containers have safety mechanisms to prevent children from accessing the drugs contained therein. Despite these attempts, drugs meant for adults accidentally poison numerous persons of tender years each year. On the other hand, if the storage containers are too difficult to open, some people are excluded from using them. For example, blister packs may include a thin substrate of peelable nonrupturable plastic as a child resistant means. The substrate may have a grasping tab for removing the nonrupturable layer and exposing a rupturable layer. However, these are often difficult to use even for adults and some containers have no means of providing tamper indication.
One container, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,032 to Bush, shows a child resistant safety container. The container is made of molded plastic and has a first tray member and a second tray member joined by a pliable hinge. The container requires that two dissimilar movements are made such that one tray member is partially rotated in a direction different from the second tray member. Although this container provides some child resistant features, it requires two hands to use: one hand to hold the first tray member and one hand to twist the second tray member relative to the first tray member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,307 to Frydenburg teaches a container having separable elements held together by a sliding latch. The container is comprised of first and second portions moveable between open and closed positions. The first portion has a rail with post and gaps in alignment with the rail. The second portion has posts which align with the gaps in the rail when the container is in a closed position. To maintain the container in a closed position, a slide closure is located on the rail for holding the posts of the second portion in alignment with the rail of the first portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,938 to Hofmann et al. teaches a safety container which may be used for blister packs. The container has a plurality of latches located around its perimeter. All the latches must be simultaneously be depressed in order to open the container.
In view of the deficiencies in the known child proof safety closures it is apparent that a pharmaceutical container is needed having child resistant characteristics as well as being easy to open, preferably through the use of one hand.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a blister pack container.
It is a further objective of this invention to have a blister pack container with child resistant characteristics.
It is still a further objective of this invention to have a blister pack container with child resistant characteristics, which may be opened with one hand.
It is still an even further objective of this invention to have a blister pack container with child resistant characteristics, which may be opened with one hand, and when used in conjunction with a blister pack provides a for tamper indication.
More particularly the present invention provides child resistant blister pack container, comprising a top tray rotatably hinged to a bottom tray, a first tab extending outward from the top tray, a second tab extending outward from the bottom tray, wherein the first tab has a button and an aperture formed thereon and wherein the second tab has a button and an aperture formed thereon, and the first aperture on the first tab receives the button from the second tab and the aperture on the second tab receives the button on the first tab when the container is in the closed position. Also, the button on the first and second tab has a retaining ledge, the retaining ledge on the button of the first tab contacts the second tab and the retaining ledge on the button on the second tab contacts the first tab when the container is in the closed position. This feature is possible because the first tab and the second tab extend from vertically aligned walls of the top tray and the bottom tray. Moreover, the first tab and the second tab each have at least one aperture aligned with the button of the first tab and the second tab.
The child resistant blister pack container has a hinge allowing rotation in a first plane and a limited rotation along a second transverse plane. The hinge is formed of a temporarily deformable plastic and provides a spring bias. This spring bias returns the top tray and bottom tray to alignment when there is limited rotation along the second transverse plane. The child resistant blister pack container is opened by rotating the top tray and the bottom tray in opposite directions along the second transverse plane of the hinge thereby disengaging the button of the first tab and second tab from the aperture of the second tab and first tab, respectively. Next the top and bottom trays are rotated along the first plane of rotation to access the interior of the container. The child resistant blister pack container has a plurality of dispensing holes on the bottom tray. The bottom tray may also have a plurality of retaining tabs along the inner walls.